Promise
by SarahNicole98
Summary: A sweet fic about Peach and Bowser when they were young. Peach goes out exploring and runs into Bowser after straying into the Darklands. They make a promise they swear to keep. Oneshot. Might make a sequel. Might not. Your reviews will decide! R


Promise

8-year-old Princess Peach smiled triumphantly to herself as she slipped through the tall, dark grass. She'd once again outsmarted her babysitters. Those toads always fell for her "I have to use the restroom" trick. (She was very smart for her age.)

She was supposed to have a guardian at ALL times. She hated it. So every chance she got, she used her childish charms to sneak to the backdoor and escape out to the garden, leaving her guardians clueless.

She explored the garden and forest, but she always wanted to explore the night meadow.

And now she was there!

She skipped through the meadow with glee, humming "Twinkle Twinkle Little Luma".

Seeing as how the grass was a 2 feet taller than herself, and she was only 3ft 8in, Peach couldn't very well see where she was going.

What she could see, however, was the looming shadow that blocked out the light from the setting summer sun behind her and caused her to cease her humming and skipping.

"What are you doing in the Darklands?"

She whirled around to see the owner of the low, male voice.

She saw a figure shadowed by the grass, which was only one foot taller than him.

He was tall and bulky.

"W-who are y-you?" Peach stammered.

The figure blinked his glowing red eyes and stepped out of the shadows.

He was a monster.

He looked like an upright turtle with a spiky green shell and horns. He had a mane of reddish hair that matched his eyebrows. His scales were orange/yellow, except for his face, which was the same green as his shell, and his snout, which was the same shade as Peach's pale face.

She stared at the monster for a long moment, until he quirked and eyebrow and cleared his throat in a very human-like manner.

"Hello? Didn't anyone ever tell you that staring is rude? And I'm sure they've told you not to ignore those who are speaking to you." He rolled his eyes when Peach gasped, as if he expected her to do so. "And so I repeat my question: What are you doing in the Darklands?"

"Exploring." Peach answered, steadier than last time.

The creature smirked. "Looks to me like you're lost."

"Well... I, uh… That is, I… um..." Peach blushed, trading a bit of her fear in exchange for embarrassment. She sucked up her pride and answered "Yeah, I'm lost..."

The thing laughed and crossed his arms. "Thought so."

Peach blushed harder and stared at her feet.

"You sure are strange." he said. "Who and how old are you anyway?"

She looked back up at him, and feeling a bit more confident, replied. "I'm Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom and I'm 8." She said, and then added as an afterthought,

"So who are YOU?"

The turtle-thing smiled. "I'm Bowser Koopa, prince of the Darklands. I'm 10."

_Bowser, huh? _Peach thought. _What a cool name._

"Hey, I think I know how to get to the Mushroom castle. I'd take you back there if you like."

Peach was shocked by the beast's offer. He was a monster, and monsters were mean and hated everyone, especially humans. At least, that's what her father told her…

"So? You want me to take you home or not?"

Peach once again was snapped out of her thoughts by Bowser.

Relying on the feeling that if he planned on hurting her, he would've done it all ready, the princess nodded.

With a smile, Bowser turned and started walking through the grass.

"Follow me!" He called over his shoulder, and kept on walking. Peach ran to catch up with him, careful not to trip on her pink dress.

The pair didn't speak again until the Mushroom Castle was in view.

"Well, there it is." Bowser said to Peach. "Good night."

He began to walk away.

"Wait!" Peach said, grabbing his scaly wrist. He looked back at her with confusion etched on his odd features.

"What?"

Biting her lip, Peach asked a question that had been in her head for a while:

"Why are you so nice?"

Bowser narrowed his red eyes and clenched his hands into fists. His eyes fell to the ground at the princess's feet. He took a deep breath before answering, eyes unmoving.

"My father's an awful king. He's mean and ruthless. Our Kingdom is a wasteland filled with scared citizens." He crinkled his nose. "It's disgusting."

"And?" Peach encouraged him to elaborate.

Grinding his teeth and growling deep in his throat, he continued.

"I don't want to be a bad king. When I grow up, I want my subjects to respect me, not fear me. I want our kingdom to be green and full of life, not death." He sighed. "But most of all,"

Bowser looked up at Peach, his eyes filled with determined tears.

"I don't want to be evil."

Peach couldn't help it. He looked so sad with those tears in his eyes. She stepped forward and wrapped her tiny arms around him, careful of the spikes on his shell.

She felt him stiffen under her touch and stepped away. She smiled.

"It's impossible for you not to become a great king."

With tears still in his eyes, Bowser smiled back. It was a true smile, not a smirk. Peach could tell he meant it.

"PRINCESS? PRINCESS PEACH? WHERE ARE YOU?"

Peach jumped when she heard her mushroom babysitters calling for her.

She looked at Bowser, who looked a bit disappointed. She smiled at him again.

"I guess that's my cue to get home, huh?" She said. He nodded sadly.

Peach walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her.

"Hey, it's ok. You'll grow up and be a great king and I'll be a great queen and we'll see each other again."

He sniffed. "Promise?"

"Promise." Peach nodded.

Bowser smiled.

"I better go." Peach said. "See ya."

Peach kissed his cheek quickly and ran off towards home, leaving a happily flustered monster behind.

When Peach got home, Toadsworth was livid. He went on and on about safety and following directions, but Peach wasn't listening. She was too busy thinking about Bowser.

_Don't worry Bowser,_ she thought. _You'll be a great king._

_I promise._

THE END


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